(NaturalNews) Childhood obesity is a worldwide epidemic with about 22 million children (under age 5) - overweight. In the United States, one out of every three kids is overweight or obese causing type-2 diabetes, high blood pressure, arthritis and even cardiovascular disease. How do most policy makers, school officials and food industry CEO's sleep at night?

Amie Hamlin, Executive Director of the New York Coalition for Healthy School Food (NYCHSF) introduces plant-based foods and nutrition education in schools to educate the whole school community. Discover what a difference you can make in the lives of our children. We do NOT have to feel helpless in these challenging times.

The typical school lunch consists of: a hot dog; macaroni and cheese; canned green beans; sugary fruit cup and chocolate milk. In other words, in just one meal, our kids are eating over 1,000 calories with over 2,200 grams of sodium and almost 60 grams of simple sugars. This translates into future heart attacks, strokes and cancer patients that only benefit the profit-seeking pharmaceutical-medical cartel.

To make matters worse, tight school budgets result in the reliance on "commodity" foods. (food provided by the federal government - for free). Many of these commodity foods include: pink slime beef (ammonia toxic); pus-filled dairy and hormone-saturated eggs. Can our kids ever be healthy fueled by chicken nuggets, mozzarella sticks, pizza, and hamburgers?

According to the New York Coalition for Health School Food, there are many ways to improve the food given to our children within the school system. Here are the top (6) suggestions for creating change in our schools:

5. Implement a Farm to School program - both in and out of the cafeteria.

6. Get rid of junk food vending machines and the use of food as rewards in classrooms, and instead offer a fresh fruit and vegetable snack program.

This week's guest: Amie Hamlin, Executive Director of New York Coalition for Healthy School Food (NYCHSF)

Learn how to help your schools with a healthy food program - Thu. May 31

Amie Hamlin is the Executive Director of the New York Coalition for Healthy School Food since its founding in 2004. She was awarded Mom of the Revolution in 2009 out of a pool of over 600 nominees from across the country, and was the 2010 New York State representative at the Mom Congress in Washington, DC.

She wrote a New York State legislative resolution in 2004 which passed unanimously, encouraging schools to add a plant-based meal every day as a healthy option, and to include plant-based and multi-cultural nutrition where nutrition education is offered.

Discover what a difference you can make in the lives of our children. We do NOT have to feel helpless in these challenging times.